And this is Leslie Curran saying hello once again and welcome to the program. I'm delighted you're tuning in and joining us and I do hope you'll be able to stay with us for the next 15 minutes as today the Reverend Philip Gardiner is with us to let the Bible speak. Reading today is taken from Numbers chapter 21.

This chapter forms part of the account of the wilderness journeys of the children of Israel between their exodus from Eden and before their entrance into Canaan. Numbers chapter 21 and 5. And the people spake again against Moses. Wherefore have you brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? For there is no bread, neither is there any water, and our soul loveth this light bread.

And the Lord sent fiery serpents among the people, and they bit the people, and much people of Israel died. Therefore the people came to Moses and said, We have sinned, for we have spoken against the Lord and against thee. Pray unto the Lord that he take away the serpents from us.

And Moses prayed for the people. And the Lord said unto Moses, Make thee a fiery serpent and set it upon a pole, and it shall come to pass that every one that is bitten, when he looketh upon it, shall live. And Moses made a serpent of brass and put it upon a pole, and it came to pass that if a serpent had bitten any man, when he beheld the serpent of brass, he lived.

We will end reading there, and we trust the Lord will add his blessing to the reading of his own word. During the ministry of the Lord Jesus Christ, he made reference to this particular passage of scripture when he was speaking with Nicodemus in John chapter 3. The Lord made it clear that the lifting up of this serpent of brass upon a pole was a clear picture of himself being lifted up upon the cross of Calvary. The serpent of brass was needed in chapter 21 because of sin and the bitter consequences of it.

In Numbers 21 verse 7, the people came to Moses and said, We have sinned. They were exactly right in that conclusion. They had sinned.

The particular word they used means to miss the mark. They had offended God. They had not attained on to the standard of God's righteousness.

On account of their sin, the Lord had sent the fiery serpents among them. As they were bitten, the people were perishing. The people being bitten by these fiery serpents is very clearly a picture of each one of us being bitten by Satan and by sin.

You remember a way back in the Garden of Eden, the old serpent came and spoke to Eve. He cast doubts in her mind. He said, Hath God said? The serpent said to Eve, Ye shall not die.

Remember then how Eve reached forth and she took off the fruit and she gave also to Adam. Why did Adam and Eve partake of that fruit? Because they had been bitten, spiritually speaking, by the old serpent. They had been poisoned by his venom.

On that day they died spiritually. The threat of eternal condemnation, eternal death hung over them until they had made their peace with God. We are all born in Adam.

Therefore, all of us have been born smitten and bitten by Satan. His fiery poison is being pumped through all those that remain in that state of sin and under the condemnation of God. Unless that venom is dealt with, the sinner continues to face eternal doom.

What is the answer then for the sinner? It is found in the one who is pictured in the serpent of brass. It is found in coming to look upon Christ. Therefore, if you are without him, you need to get your eyes fixed upon this saviour.

So we want to look today for a few moments at Christ preached in the serpent of brass. I want to consider first of all the lifting. For it says in John chapter 3 in the verse 14, As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up.

As we think of the lifting up of the serpent of brass and the lifting up of Jesus Christ, surely we are confronted with the question, how does this serpent of brass speak to us of Christ? Well, it pictures Christ as the substitute and the sin bearer. For while this serpent was different from the other serpents, this one was made of brass, it was lifted up as if it was one of the serpents. And therefore, while Christ was different to us, while he came as the sinless, spotless Son of God, yet he possessed that true humanity.

As he was lifted up on the cross, he was lifted there as the substitute, the one dying in our place. When we see Christ pictured here as a serpent, in a sense it is a strange picture. For we can easily accept Christ is the Lamb.

We can easily accept that he is the scapegoat. But how can he be the serpent, if the serpent also is a picture of Satan and the curse? It is important to emphasise that Christ is only the serpent when we view him on the cross. At every other time, whether before the cross or after it, we view him as the wrought.

Remember back in Exodus chapter 4, Moses

“The sermon by Reverend Philip Gardiner, based on Numbers 21, draws parallels between the bronze serpent lifted by Moses in the wilderness and Jesus Christ on the cross. In Numbers 21, the Israelites, suffering from deadly serpent bites due to their sin, were commanded to look at a bronze serpent on a pole to be healed. Gardiner explains that this symbolizes Jesus, who was lifted on the cross to bear humanity’s sins, providing salvation to those who believe in him. He highlights three key aspects: the lifting (Christ as the substitute for sin), the looking (faith in Christ as the only means of salvation), and the living (eternal life granted to believers). The sermon emphasizes that human efforts or religious rituals cannot save; only faith in Christ’s sacrifice can bring true redemption.”

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had been called to lead Israel out of Egypt. Moses began to make excuses why he could not go, and so the Lord gave him three signs. The first of those signs was that when he cast his rod on the ground, it became a serpent.

And as he took hold of the serpent's tail, it became a rod again in his hand. That rod is a picture of Christ. In the Psalm 110 verse 2, it says the Lord shall send the rod of thy strength out of Zion.

That is one of the titles of Jesus Christ, the rod of thy strength. As the Lord Jesus Christ came into the world then, he came as the wrought. But the rod then was cast to the ground, it became a serpent.

But then God the Father took hold of the Son again, and he became a rod again in the Father's hand. As Jesus Christ was brought to the cross, he was made sin for us who knew no sin. As Christ was upon the cross, he cried out, My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? Why did the Lord cry those words? Because he had been forsaken.

God the Father had cast the rod to the ground. Why was that so? Because he had been made sin for us. This picture of Christ as a serpent therefore is of him as the substitute.

My sin was laid on him. My condemnation was taken by him. That was the very reason why the fellowship between the Father and the Son was broken.

You think of how this serpent was made of brass. Brass in scripture very often speaks to us of judgment. Therefore Christ was judged.

He was condemned for me. The sinless one made sin for us. So we see here the lifting.

I want to see secondly the looking. For the children of Israel were simply to look at the serpent, and there was this promise that they would be healed. That surely reminds us of those well-known words of Isaiah 45 in the verse 22.

Look unto me and be ye sealed from all the ends of the earth, for I am God and there is none. How simple the message of the gospel is. Simply look to Christ.

Yet for many it is too simplistic. Perhaps that was even the case back in Numbers chapter 21. We are not told.

Perhaps some of them preferred to make their own ointments or potions or even make a polstice. They may have said to themselves how could looking to a pole heal someone from a deadly poison. It seems so contrary to reason.

But no potion of human making could deal with that poison. And so no potion of human making can deal with the issue of sin. Many will turn to the potion of the sacraments, to the potion of religious works, to the potion of charitable deeds.

But none of those things can deal with the issue of sin. Perhaps some others thought that they could fight the serpents. What a waste of time.

Yet many think today that they can drive out their sin. That they can turn over a new leaf and make a fresh start. Perhaps some thought that they could look to Moses.

But again what a foolish decision that being. He was only the preacher. They needed to look to the one that he spoke of.

That look at the serpent was just a simple act of fear. And so looking to Christ it simply means to believe on him and to receive him as saviour. In John 3 in the verse 14 it says as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness even so must the Son of Man be lifted up.

That whosoever believeth in him should not perish but have eternal life. Looking then is seen to be equivalent to believing. Exercising faith in Christ.

That is more than a mere head knowledge of who the Lord is. Rather it means to come and to depend upon him. To rest upon him as the only means of salvation.

There was then a lifting a looking. I want to see finally there was the living. In Numbers chapter 21 in the verse 5 it says when he held the serpent of brass he lived.

In John chapter 3 in the verse 15 that whosoever believeth in him should not perish but have eternal life. Today if you are not saved you are under condemnation. You will perish but what a great transformation will take place if you will come to Christ.

In John chapter 3 in the verse 14 we see Christ hanging upon the cross. That one that was lifted up but in the verse 15 surely we see him as the risen saviour whosoever believeth in him should not perish but have eternal life. The Lord grants eternal life because death did not defeat him.

Rather Christ has defeated sin and death. He has risen from the grave. He rose that proof to you that if you look him he will save you will not perish.

In John chapter 12 in the verse 32 the Lord said and I if I be lifted up from the earth will draw all men unto me this he said signifying what death he should die. Today if you have never come to him you are far away cut off from him but on account of that work of the cross you can be brought close brought into union with him. Oh dear sinner then today will you not look unto him come and receive Christ as your saviour.

I trust the Lord will bless these thoughts to all our hearts.